In a continuing series of articles, I have highlighted the Annual Meetings of the American Schools of Oriental Research, or ASOR, in order to bring to ABR’s readers some of the latest research from the lands of the Bible and to demonstrate that, despite premature reports of its demise, archaeology relating to the Scriptures is very much alive and well. Last year the conference was held in San Francisco between Nov 23–26, 2011 and featured presentations by over 400 scholars on a very wide range of subjects, from prehistoric to Islamic times, and concerning work done in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, and more.

King David is portrayed as a "King Arthur" type of mythological figure by many Bible skeptics. This attitude not only reveals a presuppositional bias against the Bible, it also ignores archaeological discoveries that support the portrayal of David and his kingdom in the Biblical accounts.

It is a good time to be a Christian. Information is more readily available and accessible than ever before. Whether it appears in books, in articles in print and on Web sites, or in podcasts and other media formats, Christian apologists are producing vast amounts of material in defense of the Christian Faith. In the field of archaeology alone, new discoveries are unearthed every year, adding to our body of knowledge about the biblical world. Because of new information, old theories are being continually revised and refined. In some cases, this information is completely overturning critical theories.

ASOR's annual meetings are its focal event of the year. Approximately 750 scholars, students, and interested members of the public come together for three intensive days of academic lectures, poster presentations, business meetings, evening receptions, and general conversation. This past year they were held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Some of the sessions are directly related to the Bible; for example two sessions on the exciting new finds at Khirbet Qeiyafa, which are associated with the reign of King David...

It seems that every year, especially around the spring Passover season when Jews and many Christians commemorate Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, newspapers and magazines publish articles questioning the validity of the Biblical account of the Exodus...

This review of biblical papers delivered at the 2008 ASOR meetings clearly shows that biblical archaeology is anything but dead, even if scholars are uncomfortable with the term itself. Indeed, it illustrates the central role that the Bible continues to play in the history and archaeology of the region; a source unmatched and unrivaled in its rich detail and description of life in antiquity...

For some time now many archaeologists, based on certain interpretations of the available evidence, have become convinced that there was no violent military assault on the land by Israel. They believe the entire account is myth...

It will come as news to Bible and Spade readers that, in fact, there is no Biblical Archaeology. From Ronald Hendel’s perspective, Biblical Archaeology and Santa Claus exist only in the imaginary world of the infantile or the untutored...

Throughout the history of the Church, Christian apologists have worked diligently to respond to heresies within the Church and attacks from outside the Church... Apologists such as Aquinas, C.S. Lewis and van Til developed arguments and systems to respond to the issues of their day...

The staff of ABR stands with only a few in defending the Biblical record with archaeological research and fieldwork. Will the church go on the offensive, taking back the history of the Bible and refuting claims that undermine its accuracy...

This story is one that has been repeated time and again throughout more than a century of excavations in the Holy Land. It involves a tendency to make claims based upon incomplete evidence and fails to account for the principle that absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence...

The explicit use of unquestioned modernist and minimalist assumptions that preclude certain conclusions and interpretations of the evidence pervade the sciences in academia today. The details don’t matter – they can be ignored in favor of an explicit appeal to preconceived notions...

During the past half century, many in the academic world have come to discount the historical basis for most of the Bible's early characters. You can pretty much throw away the first six books of your Bible and not really miss a thing!